Into the Night
by Sengo OpalKnife
Summary: When Joe finds himself taken from his world and plunged into Equestria by the Changeling Queen Chrysalis, he finds himself involved in a much more sinister plot than anything he's ever been in. To save his world and Equestria, he must descend into the darkness and follow the path of Luna's teachings as her faithful student of the Night. Rated T for violence and blood.
1. Chapter 1

It was a cool summer night-drive home for the middle of May. The windows of my car were rolled down, my music was blasting through the speakers, and I wore my Black Cincinnati Trumpets jacket (The one with the words "Wolfpack" over a number 1 on the back) to keep myself from freezing too much. As I adjusted my glasses whilst driving down Ohio-32's long strip of highway, I noticed the moon, which was really big for this time of year.

_Maybe it's a harvest moon?_ I thought in my head. I quickly dismissed the subject and kept driving, suggesting that it was just what I thought it was. I looked at the clock, which read 9:30pm. _That's also odd..._ I thought again, _I could have sworn that it was 9:30 when I left Lori's..._ Once again I quickly dismissed the subject, assuming it was only me reading the clock wrong when I left my girlfriend's house that night.

That's when my dashboard lit up. "Unknown Caller" popped up on the dash since I was using bluetooth with my vehicle. I answered the call, not knowing who it could be.

"Hello?" I asked in a polite tone.

"Hello, Joe..." A female voice said on the other line, which made me jump a little at the unknown caller knowing my name.

"May I ask who's calling me?" I asked in a still polite tone. There was a pause, then the voice spoke up.

"Eyes on the road." The voice said before ending the call. As I took my eyes off of the dashboard, I saw something extremely unsettling. What looked like a big, black and green unicorn stood in my path, and I was just seconds away from hitting it. I screamed and slammed on the breaks, my car swerving out of control, where it went off the highway, past the creature and into the grassy field beside me, where I crashed. Instantly, upon impact, I hit my head on the steering wheel, where I blacked out. The last thing I could remember was blacking in and out of consciousness, where I was dragged out of my car by the neckline of my jacket, and seeing a blurry image of the creature smirking as I drifted off into unconsciousness once again.

* * *

"Wake up, buttercup." A female voice announced, afterwords I felt water splash upon my face, causing me to open my eyes. I coughed, and struggled to breathe as water got into my lungs, but eventually I calmed down. Well, for about a few seconds. When I was fully awake, I realized something off about where I was. It was dark, dank, and cold, with the sound of water dripping somewhere far off in the distance. I tried to move, but I couldn't get up from where I was at: I was strapped down to a stone slab of sorts, which was leaned diagonally to the ceiling that I was looking at. I panicked, and tried to move a little more, but the restraints that were holding me were too strong; I was pretty much screwed for the most part. I looked around as I tried to get out of the restraints, seeing that I was in some sort of cave. And I was not alone either.

In front of me stood the creature from before, yet I could see it in it's entirety: It looked like a cross between a bug and a unicorn, with insect-like wings on it's back, and a single, crude horn jutting from it's head, which was covered in a messy, bluish-green mane. It's two, green, snake-like eyes stared deeply into my own, causing me to shudder in fright.

"What the hell is that?!" I shouted, struggling even more, trying to get away from this beast of terror. The creature took a few steps back and grinned, showing it's sharp fangs.

"My name is Chrysalis." It said in the voice that I remembered from the phone call in my car, "And I am the TRUE queen of this realm!" I gave the creature a puzzled look, then started to laugh a little. "What's so funny, human?" Chrysalis asked, leering at my reaction.

"To be honest," I started, "This is some pretty messed up dream I'm in, for one. And second of all, you can't be real. You're from a kid's television show and that is-" Chrysalis then flew over to me and placed a hole-covered hoof on my throat, blocking my air vent, causing me to gasp for air.

"DO I LOOK IMAGINARY TO YOU?!" Chrysalis screamed at me, pressure building on my throat, "IF I CAN TALK, AND I CAN DO THIS, DOES THIS SEEM LIKE A DREAM?!" She then released my throat as I coughed and gasped for air once more. Chrysalis then started to smirk, and chuckle to herself. "For a human," She started, "You sure know how to piss things off..." I laughed at that statement.

"Oh, so you're calling yourself a thing? Wow, way to insult yourself..." I remarked, grinning like a madman. Chrysalis responded by shooting a bolt of green energy at me, which was aimed directly to the right of my face, where it hit the rock fizzing.

"Don't play that game with me," Chrysalis growled, "Or I'll be sure to make your time here MUCH more painful. And you know what?" She then approached me, and leaned into my ear. "_I can make Lori forget that she had ever met you, and make her fall in love with someone else..._" I gasped at that statement. Could she really do that to her? And how on earth did she know about Lori?

"Wait," I said, "How do you know Lori?" Chrysalis laughed evilly.

"I know many things, Joe." Chrysalis chuckled, "And if you don't do as I say, I WILL do that to your one and only..."

"...What is it you want me to do then...?" I grumbled, defeated and helpless. Chrysalis grinned, knowing that she had won this fight. A flash of green light emitted from her horn, and a piece of black parchment materialized before me, along with a strange instrument that resembled a pen, yet had a tiny, thin tack on the grip.

"I want you to simply form a contract with me." Chrysalis stated, "You will be bound to this world, and you cannot return to your world. In return, I shall let you go, and not do a thing to your precious human, Lori. Do we have a deal?" I felt one of my shackles on the rock release, giving my right arm freedom to move.

"Do you swear to never hurt or to even touch Lori ever again?" I stated, admitting my defeat and grabbing the pen, which caused my finger to bleed a little from the tack on the grip. The blood from my finger then sunk into the pen itself, serving as it's own ink. Chrysalis grinned madly.

"Of course." She stated, "I will never lay a hoof on her." Reluctantly, I read over the terms of the contract, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then, I brought the pen down towards the paper. _**BANG!**_ Chrysalis yelped a bit as a loud booming sound echoed throughout the chamber of the cave, causing me to drop the pen onto the floor, which shattered upon contact.

"What in Equestria?!" She exclaimed, as the ceiling of the cave opened up with another loud bang, revealing a bright moon shining down upon the two of us.

"There she is!" A voice shouted, and instantly a wave of dark blue pegasi wearing bat like armor swooped in from the opening and tackled Chrysalis.

"Get your hooves off me you lot!" Chrysalis yelled, struggling with the pile of pegasi upon her that was holding her down.

"Restrain her!" A female voice sounded from above us, "We don't want her to get away again!" I looked up and saw a dark blue, winged unicorn with a blue and black mane that twinkled like stars float down in front of me, facing Chrysalis, who started to laugh at this newcomer.

"Luna... Chrysalis adressed, "You've finally found me. Took you long enough too, and how long has it-" A bat-pony then slapped a mouth-restrainer on Chrysalis, shutting her up.

"Save it for my sister..." Luna answered sternly, before motioning the pegasi to take her away. The pegasi then put shackles of blue metal on Chrysalis's legs, and then escorted her out of the cave, though the hole in the ceiling. Luna sighed, and then turned to the remaining bat-ponies. "Lets go, the night is still young and-" I then coughed, the smell of rock dust entering my nostrils. Luna turned, and faced me, a curious look on her face.

"Why is a human here...?" Luna said to herself, surprised to see me. She then turned back to her guard. "Release him!" She ordered. Immediately the bat-ponies flew over to me and released the restraints from my hands and feet, causing me to fall face first to the floor of the cave.

"Ow..." I groaned, just before falling into a deep sleep, as it was late at night and the ordeal of meeting Chrysalis exhausted me beyond belief.


	2. Chapter 2

I was stirred awake by the sound of a fire crackling and the smell of a wood fire burning. Puzzled, I sat up from where I was laying down at, and looked around. Currently, I was in some sort of dark forest, with the light of the moon barely shining through the thick canopy of trees. A campfire sat a little ways from me to the side, where I saw a man tending it; the first sign of human life since I left Lori's house. As I tried to get up, I nudged a bowl to my side, causing it to slide across the dirt, and ultimately caused the man to look up from his job of fire making.

"Good evening." The man said in a gravely voice, looking back to the fire. I sat up, and picked up the bowl, which clearly had some sort of soup in it. "That's for you." The man assured, not looking up from his task at hand, "Hope you like vegetable soup."

"Thanks," I said, putting the bowl off to the side of me "But I'm not really that hungry at the moment." The man looked at me again, his black hair covering his green eyes.

"You'll need the energy." The man assured. Convinced, I started to eat the soup, which tasted like a beef stew, yet had no meat in it. I instantly felt refreshed after I finished my meal.

"Thank you, it was delicious." I commented, wiping my mouth off on my arm. The man stopped stoking the fire and stood up, his black cloak flowing about him. I glimpsed a small badge on his chest that resembled a crescent moon in the midst of stars, but it was quickly hidden back by the cloak.

"Tell me," The man said, approaching me, "How well do you know about the legend of the Night Child?" I gave him a puzzled look.

"I have honestly never heard of that before." I answered the man. He sighed, and sat down next to me.

"Well," The man continued, "According to the citizens of Equestria, there was a secret student and guardian of Luna, the Princess of the Night, who was chosen by Celestia to watch over her younger sister. Many didn't even know who or what this student was, and most determined that it was just a story told to children to keep them from being out too late at night. Some say that it was a reminiscence of Nightmare Moon after she was banished, plotting to return it's master to the world of Equestria from the moon's surface. Others tell that it was a savior of the realm and helped turn Nightmare Moon back to her original self, and served as a safeguard so that Luna may never go back to the way she was before. But honestly, you know what I think?"

"What?" I asked, intrigued at this story the man was telling me. The man looked at me, his eyes staring into my soul.

"I believe that this being is out there waiting to be discovered." The man continued, "And thus beings like myself exist to search and to seek out this student so that it may be taught the ways of our order." The man then looked down at my arm. "It seems that you might be the student that we have been searching for..."

"What are you talking abou-" I started, and then I looked down on my right arm as well. There was a black and blue symbol on the back of my hand, resembling a moon within the midst of dark clouds, and seemed to travel up my arm and fade into nothingness.

"You are the chosen student of Luna." The man stated, "She has chosen you to be her guardian."

"Who are you?" I asked, looking up at him, but then I realized that he had disappeared. Looking around, I saw that the fire had disappeared as well as the forest around me. Instead, I found myself sitting up in a bed not of my own, in what seemed to be a room of a castle. Around me were decorations and wall paintings of stars, planets and a single blue moon in the center of the ceiling above me. The sun was shining through the stained glass windows of the room as well. I looked at my arm again, but saw that there was no depictions of a moon-in-the-clouds on it anymore: it was as plain and tan as ever. My Wolfpack jacket had been neatly folded on the floor beside the bed i currently resided in, which i grabbed and slipped on. Getting out of the bed and stepping onto the floor of the room, I heard a door open behind me, and turned to see a familiar sight.

"Good morning, human." Luna addressed me as she stepped into the room, her hooves clinging on the hard, marble-covered floor. She then shut the door and trotted over to her large bed-like cushion in the corner, and sat down on it, yawning.

"Wait," I started, "I was in a cave not too long ago. How did I end up-"

"My guards brought you here so that you could recover." Luna stated through a yawn, laying her head down on the cushion.

"Where exactly am I?" I questioned. Luna looked up at me.

"You're in Equestria, of course." Luna explained, "Specifically in mine and my sister's castle." I thought for a second. _Maybe this isn't a dream after all..._ I contemplated, walking around the room and to a bookshelf in on the far right of the room, right next to the stained glass window. I scanned the surface of the bookshelf, and saw that it contained various texts of a variety of subjects, from arcane arts and spell books, to leather-bound journals with gilded letter on them. However, one caught my eye. It was a book labeled "The Order of the Night", and looked VERY old. I grabbed the book, and pulled it open, dust flying into my nostrils as I flipped through the old, wood-bound book. In it, I saw many depictions of scenes of the past, a bunch of paragraphs and words in a strange language I couldn't understand, as well as paragraphs in English, which I could clearly read. Then I turned to a particular page in the book, where I saw something intriguing.

"The Prophecy of the Night" I heard Luna read over my shoulder, which caused me to jump and almost drop the book. She was standing behind me, observing my actions. "May I?" She asked, motioning to give her the book. I nodded, and for a second her horn glowed blue, and the book rose out of my hands and onto the floor, where it lay in the center between us. Luna then muttered something under her breath, and the curtains of the room then were shut by some strange force, plunging the room into darkness.

"Huh?" I said out loud, "What's going on? Why did you do that?" There was no answer, leaving me in a pitch black room in which I couldn't see my own hands. I then felt a rush of air as I felt the ground beneath me shake and tremble. I was very frightened at this point, and closed my eyes tight, cupping my hands over my ears, wanting this nightmare of a moment to end. Then I heard a booming, elderly voice echo around me, as the room continued to shake.

_"Behold!_

_When other-worldly blood is brought upon thy night,_

_The conflict of Old shall begin to fight,_

_Causing chaos to rise to Harmony's Door,_

_And destroy worlds, forevermore!_

_But the one of the world in utter peace,_

_Shall come forth and forever cease_

_The reign of Darkness from which he was born,_

_And by this creed he's forever sworn!_

_But Lo! When chaos and The One first collide,_

_His identity shall be cast aside_

_To reveal his true and pure form,_

_And be the embodiment of the Oncoming Storm!_

_Hail be to the one of Night,_

_Who shall turn our darkness into light!_

_Come forth and answer our call,_

_To defeat the one who would destroy us all..."_

Instantly the curtains swung open, flooding the room with light again, revealing the book, now closed, on the floor, and Luna sitting beside it.

"What was that about?" I asked Luna, who picked the book up with her magic and placed it back on the shelf where it originally was.

"Human," Luna stated, "I have something I need to ask you."

"Please," I answered, "Call me Joe."

"Okay, Joe." She walked over until she was face to face with me, and seemingly stared into my very soul. "I need you to retrieve something from mine and my sister's old castle near Everfree Forest: an old parchment with some names of certain beings in the kingdom. It's a long journey to there, I will warn you now, so you might need a little...help." Her eyes flashed for a second, and a left-hand gauntlet made of blue and black metal appeared beside her, and floated towards me. "Take this with you, it shall grant you the ability to use magic, as well as give you the knowledge on how to use it as well. However I do not know if you shall be able to-" Without thinking, I grabbed the armor piece, and slipped it onto my left arm, feeling it's cool, yet insulated, metal slide across my skin. In all honesty, it felt pretty awesome to wield something like this on my arm. It felt light as a feather, yet it seemed to be hard as diamonds, and a single, white stone in the shape of a moon stood on the back of my hand, surrounded by painted plates of dark grey metal that resembled clouds in a night sky.

Suddenly, my mind was filled with new knowledge of hand motions, concentrations, phrases, and even thought processes of magical techniques. While this was happening, my newly-armored hand gained a dark blue aura around it, but soon faded away as quickly as it came. It came upon me so fast, I became a little woozy and started to stumble a bit. Luna then walked over to the window, where the sun was starting to get higher in the sky, casting a warm, golden glow over the room. "You best be off while it's still light out." She continued, "You don't want to be caught in Everfree when it's dark..." I nodded, and bowed to her.

"Thank you princess." I addressed, before walking out. Luna sighed to herself. As i was walking out, she placed a hoof on my shoulder.

"Oh and one more thing." She added, "Please, call me Luna." I nodded and bowed once more before heading through the door, closing it behind me.

"He's definitely polite for some creature like himself..." She said to herself before going back to the bed and laying down on it, closing her eyes.


End file.
